Blue Jay Campground — Hotel in Lake Elsinore

This campground was a good place to test out our camp gear. You can do some hiking, ride your mountain bike and spend a night or two enjoying the stars and have a campfire. It's not far from civilization and it does feel like your in the wilderness. We went the first week of October midweek. We had our choice of sites. I counted five other campers in the campground. We saw squirrels, a rabbit, lots of birds and some lizards. There are some lovely vistas. The camp sites are not too close together. There is water. There are toilets and vault toilets, both reasonably clean. The vault toilets can be pretty smelly in the morning. Fire rings, charcoal grills and picnic tables. You need to bring your own wood. No reservations are required. You pay at the kiosk. $20 bux a night. The road up from the Ortega Hwy is very windy and narrow and would be difficult in a big vehicle or towing a trailer. The San Juan Trail is accessible right out of the campground. Ortega Falls is a few minutes away by car. Being so close to Lake Elsinore, expect to see a few homeless people camping out. The local ranger does patrol the campground during the daytime hours. A major draw back is the flies. Lots of pesky little black flies. Annoying to say the least. We used deet wipes and burned a mosquito coil to keep them at bay which made the difference between a bearable experience or not. We didn't get any...

This has to be one of my favorite campgrounds. Unfortunately it’s a pay campground ($20). It’s becoming the norm, so clean up after yourself so the forest service doesn’t have more reasons to increase the fees. You do get generous campsites, some of which have some space between sites and bushes for privacy. There is also dispersed potable water spigots, vaulted toilets, and trash. Weirdly the trash is not animal resistant. Some sites are pretty big. My 40’ truck/trailer fit in several. Beware though, the final 1 mile road is steep, with tight curves, very narrow with only room for 1 vehicle, and only 2 turn outs. It’s paved, not easy, but doable. The area is pretty and green with trees and bushes. The trailhead for the San Juan trail is just outside the campgrounds with another trailhead in the way to sites 40-50. Great for a hike or for mountain biking. The trailhead within the campground actually has lots of parking. Section 40-50 is for tent camping and currently closed for not obvious reasons. There is also a group site nearby which you call to reserve. It was relatively quiet even on the weekend when all the sites filled up (nearly empty during the week). There were lots of flies but not the kind that bite. Also, the cell service was spotty for Verizon. There was a decent connection at the trailhead just outside...

I only gave this place 4 stars because the trails were not well marked. Unlike many other places I've hiked with the family; this place was lacking. If you are not an experienced hiker and do not pay much attention to where your going, you can easily get lost. The trails tend to fork (split) several times. Overall it was nice and peaceful. The San Juan Trail is an easy to moderate hike. Beware of snakes, poison oak and the occasional mountain biker. The trails are very clean, so lets keep it that way and be sure to bring your trash back with you. The campground appeared to be well located near the trail. Potable water and toilets are available also. Hwy 74 or Ortega hwy is a well paved road with the occasional pot hole. It is also...